||SAMEER WANI
Nothing this winter would have been more distressing for the people of the summer capital than the inundated roads and water logged streets that are being witnessed at present amid Govt.’s earlier claims that around 50kms underground deep drains have been laid in the last five years to ensure dewatering from Srinagar. The incessant rains during the recent past didn’t only unmasked the claims of the state authorities but also haunted people in Srinagar at large with roads, streets and lanes getting inundated and giving tough time to pedestrian as well as the vehicular movement even in the city centre Lal Chowk.
However, sources within revealed that despite plethora of the funds were spend over the purchase of the dewatering pumps after the September floods, most of them cannot function without the electricity supply. “There are more than 50 dewatering pumps which depend on the electric supply. They cannot dewater Srinagar if there is a power breakdown which usually happens at the time of snowfall. When the pumps were purchased, the issue was raised but no heed was given to this vital dimension,” says one of the official while pleading anonymity. Earlier, the state government, as per the reports, had sought a detailed report over the required number of the dewatering pumps needed in Srinagar in case of heavy rain/snowfall.
The report compiled by the concerned department of drainages informed the state authorities that 65 pumps would be sufficient to dewater Srinagar in case of emergency. However, the report least mentioned whether the pumps should function on fuel or electricity supply. The reports also informed that crores of rupees from the state exchequer were spent for the construction of underground drains in a bid to avoid water logging in the city of Srinagar. “There are atleast 50 Kms of underground drains built in since 2010 but whether the drains are functional or not remains a top secret as the dispensation is yet to come clear over the issue,” sources said. Meanwhile, raising pitch against the SMC functioning, locals said that the present scenes on the Srinagar roads are nothing but the depiction of SMC’s failure to dewater the streets. It has been more than five days since the shops in inner Lal Chowk areas were closed due to the rise in the rise in the water level in inner lanes.
The shop owners when contacted told this news Magazine that they have been raising the issue with the SMC but their repeated pleas found no takers since years. “It has been the fourth day when i have closed my shops as it is impossible to walk through the lane which is fully inundated. The government seems to have been unmoved over our plight,” says Mehraj-ud-din Zargar who owns a grocery shop in Magarmal Bagh. Despite facing severe damage during last year’s September floods, Zargar says he is striving to make a new beginning but the situation remains unchanged due to official apathy of not repairing the drainage system.
